To the People of Mexico:
To the People and Governments of the World:
To the Free, Alternative, Autonomous, or whatever they’re called Media:
To the National and International Sixth:
To the National Indigenous Congress and the Indigenous Governing Council:
To the National and International Press:
July 17th, 2018.
Since yesterday and during today, media has been running a story backed by declarations of Mister Alejandro Solalinde (who presents himself as a presbyter, priest, clergyman or however its said, christian, catholic, Roman Apostolic), of a supposed approach between EZLN and Mister Andrés Manuel López Obrador and that “the EZLN already agreed to have a first dialogue” (textual words by Mister Solalinde).
About this lie EZLN declares:
First: The CCRI-CG of EZLN, the political, organizational and military directorate of EZLN, hasn’t agreed to a first dialogue with anyone. As its well know by whoever has the minimum knowledge of EZLN and its ways, a matter like this would have been made public well in advance.
Second: EZLN hasn’t received from Mister Solalinde anything but lies, insults, libel and racist and sexist comments, by assuming just like it was done during the days of Salinismo and Zedillismo, that we are poor ignorant indigenous manipulated by the -quoting his own words- “Caxlanes who administer Zapatismo” that don’t allow us to look down and kneel to the mister whose Solalinde considers the new savior.
Third: We understand Solalinde’s need to be on the spotlight and his demand for our submissiveness, but he is wrong about EZLN’s Zapatismo. Not only he is wrong about that. We don’t know much about it, but it seems like one of the church commandments to whom Mister Solalinde supposedly serves, which goes: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour, and you won’t lie”.
Convocation to a Gathering of Support Networks for the Indigenous Governing Council; to CompARTE[i] 2018, “For Life and Freedom”; and to the Fifteenth Anniversary Event of the Zapatista Caracoles entitled, “Píntale Caracolitos a los malos gobiernos pasados, presentes y futuros” [ii]
July, 2018.
To the individuals, groups, collectives and organizations of the Support Networks for the Indigenous Governing Council:
To the National and International Sixth:
First and last point:
The Grand Finale.
You arrive at the grand stadium. “Monumental,” “colossal,” “an architectonic marvel,” “the concrete giant”—these and similar descriptors roll off the lips of TV broadcasters who, despite the different realities that they describe, all highlight the enormously proud structure.
To get to the magnificent building, you’ve had to wade through rubble, cadavers, and filth. Older folks say that it wasn’t always like this, that it used to be that homes, neighborhoods, businesses, and buildings were erected around the great sporting hub. Rivers of people would rush all the way up to the gigantic entrance, which only opened once in a while and on whose threshold was inscribed, “Welcome [Bienvenido] to the Supreme Game.” Yes, “bienvenido” in the masculine, as if what occurred inside was exclusively a men’s affair, as used to be the case with public bathrooms, bars, the machinery and tools sections of hardware stores…and, of course, soccer.
Sorry, this entry is only available in Español. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.
Esta serie de Voces de las Resistencias de Cara a las Elecciones del 1 de julio de 2018 en México nos permite conocer de primera mano las experiencias de lucha que los y las miembros del Congreso Nacional Indígena han tenido defendiendo sus tierras-territorios y siendo parte de un trabajo organizativo de base que reta las formas y modos de la democracia representativa electoral. La compañera de lucha Rocío Moreno, mujer coca de la isla de Mezcala Jalisco -quien a la vez es historiadora y concejala del CIG- habla del proceso de organización que el Concejo Indígena de Gobierno/CNI-EZLN tienen durante este tiempo electoral. Ella nos recuerda que más allá de los candidatos, las elecciones y los votos las mujeres y los pueblos en resistencia siguen organizándose de cara a la ofensiva global neoliberal patriarcal colonial en curso…
Mexico City, 2 May 2018.- Today at noon a press conference was held by the National Indigenous Congress, the Indigenous Governing Council (CIG), and the Sixth Commission of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, where they announced the aggreements of the CIG’s second work session (held on April 28 and 29 in Mexico City).
Evaluation by council members regarding the achievements and difficulties of the CIG’s tour in Mexico (4’33 min.)
Communiqué by the CNI-CIG-Sixth Commission of the EZLN:
(Source: Enlace Zapatista)
WHAT’S MISSING IS YET TO COME
April 2018.
To the CIG and Marichuy Support Networks:
To those who participated in the Civil Association entitled, “The Hour for Our Peoples to Flourish Has Come”:
To the National and International Sixth:
To the Mexican people:
To the free, autonomous, alternative and independent media:
To the national and international press:
Faced with the intensification of war, dispossession, and repression in our communities, and as the electoral process advances, we, in accordance with the path walked by our spokeswoman Marichuy together with the councilmembers of the CIG [Indigenous Governing Council], respectfully address the Mexican people to say:
We hear the pain of all the colors we are, all of the colors which make up Mexico from below.
Under the pretext of collecting signatures, we traveled throughout the indigenous territories of our country where together we grew our political proposal from below, and through this process made visible the struggles, problems, and proposals of many originary peoples.
Through our participation in this electoral process, we reiterated to the indigenous and non-indigenous peoples of Mexico that we will not be silent while those above steal and destroy our land, which we inherited from our grandparents and which we owe to our grandchildren. We will not remain silent while they poison rivers and blow holes in mountains to extract minerals; we will not sit idly by as they turn the peace and life that we have been building every day into war and death via the armed groups that protect their interests. Have no doubt: our response will be organized resistance and rebellion to heal the country.
With the massive mobilization of thousands and thousands of compañeras and compañeros from the support networks around the country, we realized, and it became shamelessly clear, that to get on the ballot we would have had to prove ourselves as bad as or worse than those above. If we collect signatures, they must be fraudulent or else they won’t count; if we spend money it should come from a shady source; if we say anything it has to be a lie; if we come to any serious agreements, they must be with corrupt politicians, extractivist corporations, bankers, or drug cartels, but never, ever, with the Mexican people.
Getting on the ballot is only for those who seek to administer power from above to oppress those below, because the power they seek is rotten to the core.
It’s a competition that can be won with deceit, money, and power, as the political class’ elections are merely a commodity. There is not nor will there ever be room there for the word of those below—those who, whether they are indigenous or not, despise power and build democracy by making collective decisions which then become a form of government in the street, barrio, town, ejido, collective, city, or state.
The electoral process is one big pigsty where the competition is between those who can falsify thousands of signatures and those who have billions of pesos to coerce and buy votes. Meanwhile, the majority of the Mexican people are caught between poverty and misery.
That’s why our proposal isn’t like theirs. That’s why we’re not campaigning, falsifying signatures, or collecting and spending the monies that the people of Mexico need to meet their basic needs. That’s why we don’t need to win any election or get involved with the political class. Rather, we’re in search of power from below, born of the pain of the peoples. That’s why we’re seeking out the suffering of all the colors that make up the Mexican people: that’s where hope lies, in a good government that rules by obeying and which will only be able to emerge from organized dignity.
The racism inherent in the political structure is not the only thing that kept our proposal off the ballot. Well, even if those who oppose the destruction wrought by the capitalist system on the world had different eyes, whether they were blue or red, public policy and this supposed democracy would still be meant to exclude them.
The originary peoples and those of us who walk below and to the left don’t fit in their game. This is not because of our color, race, class, age, culture, gender, thought, or heart, but rather because we are one and the same with the Mother Earth and our struggle is to stop everything from being turned into a commodity, as this will mean the destruction of everything, starting with our destruction as peoples.
This is why we struggle and organize ourselves. This is why not only do we not fit into the structure of the capitalist state, but we also feel more disgust each day for the power above which makes its profound contempt for all Mexicans more obvious by the hour. Our peoples are facing a very serious situation, a situation which has only gotten worse in recent weeks as repression and displacements have increased, and this has been met with complicit silence by every candidate.
As a consequence, and as agreed upon during the second working session of the Indigenous Governing Council which took place April 28-29 in Mexico City, neither the CIG nor our spokeswoman will seek or accept any alliance with any political party or candidate, nor will they call for people to vote nor for people to abstain from voting. Rather, we will continue to seek out those below to dismantle the rancid power above. Whether you vote or not, organize yourselves. We will walk forward by building the keys to heal the world.
Among the originary peoples of this country—where the formation of the Indigenous Governing Council was decided, and where our spokeswoman walked, weaving bridges as she was mandated to do by the general assembly of the CNI—we find the resistances and rebellions that give shape to our proposal for the whole nation. For this reason, we traveled together with the councilmen and councilwomen from every state and region through their geographies, where every day people face war and the invasion of the capitalist monster; where people are expelled from their land so that it can be taken out of collective hands and transferred into the hands of the rich, so their territories can be occupied and destroyed by mining companies, so the aquifers can be devastated by fossil fuel extraction, so the rivers can be poisoned and the water privatized in dams and aqueducts, so the sea and air can be privatized by wind farms and aviation, so native seeds can be contaminated by genetically modified seed and toxic chemicals, so cultures can be turned into folklore, so territories can be configured for the ideal functioning of international drug trafficking, and so that organization from below can be suppressed by the terrorist violence of narcoparamilitaries at the service of the bad governments.
We saw ourselves reflected on paths illuminated by the worlds that have preserved their cultures, where the words and plans of all the indigenous peoples are being drawn, and where from each struggle and each language arise the fundamental reasons for the existence of the Indigenous Governing Council.
That’s where we see the glimmer of hope we set out to find. We also see it in the parts of civil society organized as the Sixth and in the CIG Support Networks and groups that stepped forward not only to show their solidarity and create an agenda for the whole country, but also to build, from below and out of these capitalist ruins, a better country and a better world. We have deep admiration and respect for all of them.
We call on all the women and men of the Mexican people, all the compas from the CIG Support Networks in all the states of the country, and all the compañeras and compañeros who made up the “The Hour for Our Peoples to Flourish Has Come” Civil Association to continue their process of discussing and evaluating our work, making assessments, and finding and walking the paths we decide upon, always organizing ourselves, regardless of whether we vote or abstain from voting for any candidate. Your words, feelings, and proposals are important to us.
We will continue to extend respectful bridges toward those who live and struggle in order to together grow the collective word that helps us resist injustice, destruction, death and dispossession, and to reweave the fabric of the country with the consciousness of those below who dream and rebel with their own geographies, cultures, and customs.
The collective proposal of the peoples contains our word that we share with the world. We will continue walking further below, towards the indigenous peoples, nations and tribes we are. For this reason we call for a General Assembly of the National Indigenous Congress in October 2018 in order to announce the results of the evaluations by the originary peoples who make up the CNI, and to advance on the next step.
Sisters and brothers of the Mexican people and the world, let us continue together, as what’s missing is yet to come.
For the Integral Reconstitution of Our Peoples
Never again a Mexico Without Us
National Indigenous Congress
Indigenous Governing Council
Sixth Commission of the EZLN
Sorry, this entry is only available in Español. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.
La Sexta Bachajón: Invitación a la Quinta Conmemoración por Juan Vázquez Guzmán
Compañeros y compañeras, en este medio les hacemos llegar la invitación a la Quinta Conmemoración Anual de nuestro compañero finado Juan Vázquez Guzmán.
Reciban nuestros saludos combativos
EN EJIDO SAN SEBASTIÁN BACHAJÓN, ADHERENTES A LA SEXTA DECLARACIÓN DE LA SELVA LACANDONA CHIAPAS, MÉXICO, A 11 DE ABRIL DE 2018.
A l@s compañer@s adherentes a la Sexta Declaración de la Selva Lacandona de México y el Mundo.
Al Movimiento de Justicia por el Barrio de Nueva York.
A los Defensores de Derechos Humanos Solidarios.
Al pueblo en General de México y el Mundo.
Amigos y amigas, vecinos solidarios, compañeros y compañeras de lucha y resistencia, en este medio, nos permitimos enviarles saludos combativos a todos y en especial al Grupo del Movimiento de Justicia por el Barrio Nueva York de parte de la familia del finado Juan Vázquez Guzmán y a los Compañeros Adherentes a la Sexta.
Para hacerles de su conocimiento y a la vez invitarlos para que asistan en la Quinta Conmemoración Anual de nuestro compañero finado Juan Vázquez Guzmán, defensor de derechos humanos, para el día 24 de abril del presente año, en el transcurso del día y en la noche, en el domicilio de sus familiares, en san Sebastián Bachajón, barrio onte’el, salida a Chilón, ya que el compañero fue asesinado en frente de su casa el 24 de abril 2013, los familiares de Juan Vázquez Guzmán y los compañeros Adherentes a la Sexta Declaración del Ejido San Sebastián Bachajón les damos la cordial invitación para que participen y honrar juntos la memoria del compañero, en esta Quinta Conmemoración Anual.
Desde la zona norte del estado de Chiapas las mujeres y hombres de san Sebastián Bachajón les enviamos combativos saludos.
Nunca más un México sin nosotros
Tierra y libertad
¡Zapata vive!
¡Hasta la victoria siempre!
¡Juan Vázquez guzmán vive, la lucha de Bachajón sigue!
¡Juan Carlos Gómez Silvano vive, la lucha de Bachajón sigue!
¡No al despojo de los territorios indígenas!
¡Viva la digna lucha de los compañeros y compañeras choles del ejido tila!
¡JUSTICIA PARA NUESTRO COMPAÑERO JUAN VAZQUEZ GUZMAN, AYOTZINAPA, ACTEAL, ABC, ATENCO!
Sorry, this entry is only available in Español. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.
De Chiapas a la ZAD: ¡¡No al despojo!!
Colectivos de apoyo, medios libres, organizaciones e individu@s, nos levantamos en contra de la decision del Estado frances de desalojar con fuerza a los y las habitantes de la ZAD quienes construyen desde años una nueva experiencia autonoma y autogestionada, del vivir juntos en otro mundo posible.
Si el abandono de la construccion del aeropuerto fue una victoria para todas y todos quienes lucharon desde hace décadas, frente a una hidra codicioso de megaproyectos destructores, la decision de despojar las y los que viven en la ZAD, Zona A Defender, nos repugna.
Guarderia autogestionada, panaderia libre, tienda solidaria, nuevos tipos de viviendas, alimentacion autonoma en luz, solidaridad entre el mundo campesino y ocupant@s, plantas medicinales… todos esos proyectos nacen unos tras otros y muestran que en Europa tambien, otro mundo es posible. Que, sí, es posible para todas y todos rechazar este sistema de vivir junt@s para construir algo mejor, decidir colectivamente de manera horizontal.
Una delegacion de la Zad participó en el Festival Mundial de las resistencias y de las rebeldias, organizado por el EZLN y el CNI en 2014, para aprender a conocer las luchas de México ; y las obras del Comparte zapatista fueron presentadas en la Zad, en 2017. Habian participado al primer foro mundial en contra del despojo urbano y rural. Vinculos fuertes existen con los y las herman@s de Atenco en la lucha comun contra esos aeropuertos inutiles que destruyen la Madre Tierra y las zonas humedas. Llegaron igual para conocer y entender la experiencia zapatista, y las de otros grupos organizados desde abajo y la izquierda de la Sexta y del Congreso Nacional Indigena. Esos intercambios, esos encuentros crearon de ambas partes ideas, y construyeron puentes entre los dos lados del charco!
Sorry, this entry is only available in Español. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.
Desde el 8 de este mes un enorme operativo policial intenta desalojar la Zad de Notre Dame de Landes, una de las experiencias autónomas más importantes de Francia. Desde las 3 de la madrugada el operativo se implementó con brutalidad: filas de camiones azules interminables, tanques blindados, gases lacrimogenos, primeros heridos, primeros arestos. La gendarmeria prohibió la presencia de los medios de comunicación y bloqueó su acceso.
Desde Francia, compañerxs nos mandan este comunicado, con las declaraciones de quienes desarrollan actividades agrícolas y otras, expresadas en conferencia de prensa la tarde del 10 de abril.
Hoy, en la Rolandière, estábamos una treintena de personas representando las diversas actividades agrícolas, paragricolas, artesanales y culturales de la ZAD. Hemos llevado un mensaje colectivo para responder a las contra-verdades diseminadas desde ayer por los que nos están expulsando. Tenemos proyectos muy diversos en sus formas, pero somos totalmente solidarios, aun más cuando la prefectura [de policía] intenta dividirnos por medio de chantaje a la destrucción de nuestras actividades y lugares de vida.
Ayer, la granja de los cents noms ha sido destruida. Esta mañana, de nuevo, la policía [gendarme] quería atacarse al gran huerto colectivo de los Rouge et Noir y al huerto de plantas medicinales cercano. Hoy, todas las actividades y las habitaciones de la zona están amenazadas. El gobierno ha decidido interrumpir el dialogo, militarizar la zona, venir destruyendo con excavadoras, vehículo blindado, y miles de gendarmes mobiles la esperanza que ha sido sembrada en las tierras de Notre-Dame-des-Landes.
Sorry, this entry is only available in Español. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.
Eugenia Gutiérrez. Colectivo Radio Zapatista.
México, 8 de marzo de 2018.
¿Cómo describir el momento que viven hoy las luchas feministas a nivel mundial? ¿Cómo analizar sus alcances y sus límites? Enarbolando la bandera del feminismo, hoy se movilizan miles de personas para organizar debates, marchas, huelgas o celebraciones. Las protestas contra la violencia patriarcal permean hoy todos los ámbitos que determinan nuestro entorno. Las luchas feministas se despliegan en lo social, lo cultural, lo económico y lo político. En el marco de este 8 de marzo, día que concentra esfuerzos de reflexión y acción a nivel mundial, la violencia machista se discute en foros, artículos, libros, medios de comunicación y todo tipo de esfuerzos organizativos. Y, sin embargo, la violencia sexista no cesa. Por el contrario, los datos duros indican que crece y se consolida. (Continuar leyendo…)
Sorry, this entry is only available in Español. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.
Este pasado diciembre el Cideci / Universidad de la Tierra Chiapas publicó el libro Podemos gobernarnos nosotros mismos: La autonomía, una política sin el Estado, de Jerôme Baschet, que explora la posibilidad de la autonomía y el autogobierno en tiempos de la barbarie ejercida por el sistema capitalista en todos los sentidos de la vida.
Entrevistamos a Jerôme Baschet, quien nos habla sobre el sentido del libro y su relación con la iniciativa del Concejo Indígena de Gobierno (CIG).
Estamos aquí con Jerôme Baschet, platicando sobre el libro Podemos gobernarnos nosotros mismos: La autonomía, una política sin el Estado, que acaba de salir en publicación del Cideci/UniTierra, aquí en Chiapas. Jerôme, tú planteas básicamente dos preguntas en este libro: ¿qué puede ser la política de la autonomía? y ¿qué opciones tenemos frente a la devastación capitalista? ¿Por qué estas dos preguntas, y qué tienen que ver una con la otra?
Bueno, las dos nos llevan a la idea de la autonomía, que es la propuesta de los pueblos indígenas, del CNI y del Concejo Indígena de Gobierno. Y bueno, partiendo quizás del título, “Podemos gobernarnos a nosotros mismos”, es una lección que la maestra de la escuelita zapatista Eloísa nos dejó en ocasión de esta escuelita zapatista en 2013, y pues es como un resumen de esa otra política que no se centra en el Estado. El mensaje central es que hay otra política que no es la que conocemos, que no es la de los partidos políticos, que no es la del Estado y sus instituciones, sino que parte de la capacidad de la gente común para organizarnos, tomar las decisiones y finalmente gobernarnos, y de hacerlo sin las instituciones del Estado o afuera de ellas. En parte es un sueño, porque claro, nosotros sobre todo en los medios urbanos se ve muy difícil, pero sí es posible, y muchos pueblos indígenas, en los territorios rebeldes zapatistas en Chiapas pero también en otras regiones como Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca, están demostrando que sí lo pueden hacer, con sus propias formas de organización, su propio sistema político, con sus cargos y los diferentes niveles de gobierno, en el caso de la autonomía zapatista, y eso es una experiencia, un experimento político, que además de ofrecernos un camino para resolver los problemas dramáticos que enfrentamos en el país y en el mundo, también es una aportación a la reflexión sobre qué es o qué podría ser la política, que merecería mucho más atención de toda la gente que se interesa en hacer que el mundo sea menos dramático y caótico de lo que es, y también al nivel de la reflexión de las ciencias políticas tendría que ser un objeto de reflexión absolutamente central.
Em uma ação histórica do movimento brasileiro de luta pela reforma agrária, a União Nacional Camponesa (UNC) e a Confederação Nacional de Agricultores Familiares e Empreendedores Familiares Rurais (CONAFER) reuniram mais de 3.000 camponeses e camponesas, indígenas, quilombolas e ribeirinh@s acampad@s em um ato de resistência na Esplanada dos Ministérios em Brasília.
A Jornada Nacional de Luta, batizada como Carnaval Vermelho, teve como objetivo atrair a atenção do poder público para as necessidades e reivindicações de direitos dos trabalhadores rurais espalhados pelos 24 estados brasileiros representados na Jornada.
A Jornada começou na segunda-feira, dia 19 de fevereiro, com um ritual emocionante dos irmãos indígenas Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe do Sul e extremo sul baiano, onde pediram à Tupã e aos Encantados que abençoassem as lutas dos próximos dias.
Unindo forças em busca por seus direitos, grupos como Movimento de Luta pela Terra (MLT), Movimento de Trabalhadores por Direitos (MTD), Associação Indígena Ybityra Porang Tupinambá (AIIPT), Ligas Camponesas e Urbanas do Brasil (LCU-BR), Frente Revolucionária Mulheres de Luta (FRML), Movimento da Agricultura Familiar (MAF), Movimento Brasileiro dos Sem Terra (MBST), e diversos outros, marcharam durante quatro dias pelos Ministérios e Órgãos Públicos de Gestão protocolando pautas com suas demandas e exigindo uma data para se reunir com os representantes legais.
A pressão popular se mostrou precisa e eficaz quando diversos Ministérios abriram suas portas para o movimento. Justiça, Saúde, Agricultura, Trabalho, Cultura, Desenvolvimento Social, Direitos Humanos, Meio Ambiente, Cidades e INCRA foram algumas das entidades públicas que se mostraram dispostos a escutar e dialogar com os trabalhadores rurais, que reivindicavam nada além de seus direitos, em tese assegurados pela constituição, para garantir uma existência digna e saudável, com acesso à educação e segurança.
Ao final da jornada, os presentes embarcaram de volta para suas comunidades com um sorriso no rosto, com grande parte de suas reivindicações atendidas de imediato por mérito da resistência do povo. Milhares de famílias voltarão a ter alimentos em suas mesas e terra para plantar e produzir, poderão dormir tranquilas sem medo de reintegrações de posse, e muitas crianças poderão frequentar as escolas e ter acesso a saúde básica.
Só através da luta e do poder do povo essas conquistas puderam ser garantidas pelo movimento. A UNC e a CONAFER trouxeram uma nova perspectiva de vida para milhares de famílias Brasil afora. Avante!
